Are there any manufacturers out there who make N scale subway trains, either locos or cars? Anything close?
Trying to model the L in Chicago.
Thanks for any info,
Spearo
Kato and other Japanese model companies make N scale Japanese prototype commuter cars. Some of them may resemble Chicago cars.
Look at Plaza Japan on ebay. They have equipment that can be made to look like what you want.
Just be advised that the doors on some Japanese models might be on the wrong side… at least on their LRV and trolley vehicles.
Lee
Fortunately, subway cars have doors on both sides. 
Try this site, give them a call if you don’t see what you need.
http://islandmodelworks.com/index.html
Cheers
Both excellent suggestions which I did not know about. Have emailed Island Model Works and will troll ebay to look at Plaza japan.
Thanks guys.
Bandai makes a series of unpowered B-Train Shorty cars. These are greatly shortened versions of Japanese prototypes. Some of them make nice short trolley cars. Any of them can be spliced together to make a longer body.
I model subways in HO, but a while back I was e-talking with someone who is planning an N-scale system. He is using these cars from Japan:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10104745p/10/1
If you ever think of changing scales, or find the N-scale options unsatisfactory, the HO subways by Walthers / Proto are very nice. 18-inch curves are no problem, so you can squeeze them into tighter spaces than other modern-era HO equipment. They are all based on the New York City R-17 cars. The ones that claim to be otherwise are just different paint jobs.
There was an article on scratchbuilding a London Underground car in the Jan/Feb 06 issue of the N Gauge Journal. This used a commercially available roof, the sides were made from sheet plastic, and a pair of Arnold Kof Diesel chasses for the motors/trucks at each end. After the model won an award, there was also a reprinted variation of that article in the June 2007 issue of Railway Modeller.